February 26th - Pamplemousse Cocktail

"DID YOU CUT YOURSELF?"

I don't think that there is anything more embarassing than being a chef instructor and cutting yourself in front of your students.  It's mortifying.  I've done that only once...thank god...along time ago.  I was chopping up some onion and tried to talk to a student at the same time and...OUCH!   Now the lesson goes from 'how to chop an onion' to 'how to stop the bleeding'.  Embarassing!

Today, I was prepping for the French dinner (which is tomorrow) and had 6 students helping me.  I decided, in my attempt to make things easier for the students, that I would move the meat slicer to a more conveinent location.  No, no....I didn't cut myself on the blade.  Instead, I cut myself on the underside of the meat slicer as I was moving it.  Apparently there is a broken piece of metal underneath it which acts like a razor blade.   SLICE!  It got me pretty good.  So, I tried to slyly (and without drawing attention) go to the paper towel to stop the bleeding.  Of course, a student sees what's going on and at the top of their voice yells.  "DID YOU CUT YOURSELF?"

And of course, all of the students stop what they're doing to see who's the idiot who cut themselves.  It was me!  Without thinking, I say.  "Yeah, on the meat slicer."   On cue, they all make the "wince in pain" facial gesture.  No, no...I reassure them...It wasn't on the blade, it was on the underside as I was moving it.  Then I get the obvious question "why were you moving the meat slicer" (that weighs at least 20 lbs)?    "To make it easier for you to use".  And I swear I saw them all shake their heads in the "what a moron" head gesture.  And of course, for the rest of our time in the kitchen, I get the snicker and the "how's your finger?" from the students.  Last time I try to do anything nice for them!!

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:
Pomegranate Juice: $3.99
Honey:  $3.29
Vodka:  Had (of course)
Grapefruit Juice: $3.49
Lime juice: Had
Mint: $2.99

Total: $13.76

Pamplemousse is the French term for grapefruit.   I didn't use fresh grapefruits and instead opted for the bottled juice (cause I'm lazy).  Also, I just happened to have some left over Absolut Ruby Red from my grapefruit and vodka phase that I went through last month, so this worked perfectly.

THE RESULTS

Fast:  Unfortunately you have to make a syrup from teh pomegranate juice, water, sugar, and honey.  So, you're not going to be able to make a cocktail until it cools.  :(  So, you're looking at a good 20 minutes to a half hour before cocktail time.

Easy:  You don't even need to bust out the shaker!  It's put it in a pitcher and stir.   How easy is that?

Fresh:  DELICIOUS!

Overall: LOVE IT!  My favorite recipe so far this year!  This is a great cocktail you can mix up by the pitcher full!  It's got a great balance of sweet (from the syrup you make) and sour (from the grapefruit juice).  Just the thing I need to nurse my war wound from today! 

Highly recommend this cocktail!!!  Try it out!

Tomorrow I won't be around, but luckily I have Saturday and Sunday to make the dessert.  So, check back on Sunday to see my blog entry for the weekend!   Also, I will take pictures of the French dinner and get them uploaded.